


will heal with proper care and love

by aliaaaaaa



Series: webgottrash tumblr prompts [22]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: M/M, skinny is lowkey lieb and web's son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-06-01 00:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6493741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliaaaaaa/pseuds/aliaaaaaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the war is almost over, Web and yet you still manage to get yourself hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	will heal with proper care and love

**Author's Note:**

> an anon requested for - web has a broken ankle and joe takes care of him. sweet conversation about life, suffering and future together.
> 
> my sloppy terrible take.

Zell am See had the greenest lake that Web had ever seen in his life. It’s not the sea but it’s a body of water and he was attracted to body of water and wanted to be closed to it everyday. And he saw the longing look on Skinny’s face when the others were swimming and he was left behind on the wooden pier, swinging his feet back and forth, creating ripple.

It happened when Web was fishing alone on the pier because Lieb wanted to go deer hunting with the others.

He was in the middle of the pier because that was where the fishes always congregated. It was sunny, and he felt the sun warming his neck and it felt like a bliss after the heavy downpour yesterday that lasted through the morning.

The serene silence was broken by something heavy being splashed into the lake, interrupting the fishes and creating ripples.

When he turned around, he saw hands trying to claw their way up of the surface. His immediate thought was, ‘Someone’s drowning’, and when said person broke through the water and called for help in this too distressed tone that he recognized; Web abandoned his fishing rod and ran towards the end of the pier to save Skinny. He slipped and crashed down heavily, rattling the woods, but he got up immediately, ignoring the spike of pain on his left foot and jumped into the water.

Called it luck or whatever, but at the same time that Web had wrapped his arms around Skinny; Major Winters walked by, ready for his mid-morning swim, and when he saw Web struggling to get Skinny out of the lake and he jumped into the water in his PT gear to drag them both safely on the pier.

*

Sprained ankle, that was what Doc Roe said when they brought Web to the Medic Bay.

On the pier, when Skinny was retching lake water, Web looked at his left ankle; it was so swollen and purple that he thought he got stung by jellyfish.

“I don’t know how you even manage to get up and jump into the lake with this swollen ankle. You’re lucky that Major Winters was there to help you, otherwise you both will drown,” Doc Roe said, examining the swollen flesh.

Web grunted when Doc Roe pressed the tender flesh gently.

“Is Webster gonna be okay, Doc?” Major Winters asked, his hands cradling a hot cup of coffee.

“It doesn’t seem bad. The bone doesn’t seem to be out of place, otherwise he couldn’t even limp to save Skinny here,” Doc Roe explained, tilting his head towards Skinny who was being bundled up with several blankets.

“How long till the swelling goes down?” Web asked, as Doc Roe started to bandage his ankle, wrapping the thick cloth over and over his ankle and around the ball of his foot.

“Depending on how much pressure you put on your ankle, which is supposed to be none. Don’t walk, run, or even hop. Get comfy, elevate your foot, ice the ankle every two hours and let your body do the fixing,” Doc Roe advised, and Web nodded obediently.

*

Skinny and Major Winters helped carried Web into one of the unoccupied room on the ground floor.

Lipton fussed over him, bringing in extra pillows to prop his foot up and was now searching for ice pack.

The men already heard about Web’s heroic act of saving Skinny from drowning. They shook their heads fondly, patting his shoulder and telling him that he’s a good man. Luz even brought a Hershey bar for him and Skinny.

“Can someone tell me what the fuck happened?”

Web heard the voice before he saw the face and he sighed inwardly and Skinny rubbed his face, readying himself for the bitching.

Sure enough, Lieb stormed into the room, his hair mussed and his eyes wild.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Lieb asked almost accusingly.

“Lieb…” Web sighed.

“I got back from the forest and Luz told me you jumped into the lake and you sprained your ankle!” Lieb bitched, his eyes zooming in on Web’s bandaged ankle.

He turned around to face Skinny who visibly flinched. “Were you trying to off yourself?” Lieb asked, voice loud and heated.

“I wasn’t! I thought the lake was shallow and I tried to swim in but it was too deep and my body just froze!” Skinny explained, his arms raised as if shielding himself from Lieb’s anger.

"You couldn’t ask any of us to teach you?” Lieb asked again and his voice kept raising.

“Guys! Please!” Web shouted and all the screaming stopped when Captain Speirs entered the room with an ice pack in his hand.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, sharp eyes assessing the situation.

“Nothing,” Lieb mumbled, aware that if he started to scream at Speirs, there would be hell to pay.

“Skinny, Luz needs help with the rations,” Speirs said, glancing at Skinny and said man walked out from the room quickly.

Speirs turned to watch Lieb and Web – his eyes going back and forth – as if he was calculating something inside his head.

“Here. Put this on his swollen ankle and make sure he doesn’t move,” Speirs said, handing the ice pack to Lieb who took it gently.

Speirs left them alone, shaking his head.

Lieb moved to sit on the foot of the bed, mindful of Web’s swollen ankle. He undid the bandage carefully and gently pulled it apart.

Web watched Lieb tenderly prodding his ankle and he grunted in pain and then he sighed in relief when Lieb placed the ice pack on his ankle.

“You are such an idiot,” Lieb said, his voice low and gruff as he looked at Web reclining on the bed, two pillows propped up behind his back.

“Care to tell me why I’m an idiot?” Web asked as he looked at Lieb’s fingers gripping his knee as he gently put pressure on Web’s swollen ankle.

“You could have drown too,” Lieb said so quietly that Web had to strain his ears to hear him.

Web didn’t reply because he knew that he could have drown too if Major Winters didn’t come and help them.

They sat in silence as Lieb iced Web’s swollen ankle gently and eventually Web fell asleep with his head dropping on his chest, exhausted from the impromptu rescuing and from the medicine Doc Roe had provided him.

When he woke up, it was semi-dark inside the room, the light from the hallway splashed in gently and Web realised that he was alone.

Lieb had wrapped the bandage neatly around his ankle and covered him with blanket.

He tried to move his body, his neck stiff from sleeping in an odd angle and he groaned softly when he accidentally grazed his swollen ankle with his right leg.

And as if on cue, as if he was standing outside the room, listening to Web; Lieb appeared and he switched on the small light.

“You okay?” Lieb asked, but he was already moving to help Web shifted his position.

“What time is it?” Web asked, his voice croaked.

“Almost dinner time. You missed lunch, by the way. Hold on, I’ll go get you something to eat,” Lieb said, leaving Web alone once again in the spacious room.

He didn’t have time to properly look at the room that he was currently occupying, too busy minding his painful ankle.

The room was big; there were rows of tall bookshelves lining up the wall and each shelves were filled with thick books and the sight made Web itched to move and ran his fingers on the spines.

Lieb came back with bread and cheese in one hand and ice pack in another.

Lieb gave the food to Web’s waiting hand and he dragged a chair to the foot of the bed, undoing the bandage once again before he iced the swollen ankle.

“It still looks purple,” Web said, talking with his mouth full of bread.

“It’s only a few hours. It will go down eventually if you don’t move too much,” Lieb said, calmly assuring him.

Web chewed his food silently, his eyes watching Lieb gently taking care of him.

“Did you guys manage to hunt a deer?” Web asked.

“We couldn’t find one and if we did, no one will be able to shoot at it since Shifty is not here,” Lieb replied, rotating the ice pack gently on the swollen flesh.

“What were you doing at the lake anyway?” Lieb asked, his face turned to look at Web; and Web noticed how his hair flopped over his forehead and how his eyes were soft.

“Fishing. But I think I lost my fishing rod in the lake,” Web pouted and Lieb smirked when he saw Web’s crestfallen face.

“Stop being a baby. I’ll make you a new one later,” Lieb promised to Web and he grinned when Web visibly got his happy face on – the one where he chewed his lips and tried not to look like he’s happy but he’s actually was – that one.

There was a knock on the door and Skinny poked his head through the slightly opened space.

“Hi,” Skinny said simply and Lieb narrowed his eyes at him.

“What?” Lieb asked before Web even got to open his mouth.

“Just checking on Web, see if he needs anything,” Skinny said, blinking his doe eyes at Lieb.

“I’m fine. Thank you, Skinny. Lieb has been helping me a lot,” Web told Skinny, smiling reassuringly.

“That’s good. Well I’ll just –.” With a nod, Skinny left and Web sighed.

“Stop terrorizing him,” Web said and Lieb narrowed his eyes at him, already wiping Web’s ankle so he could rebandage it.

“He hurt you,” Lieb murmured.

“He didn’t mean to, Joe,” Web replied, his fingers itching to touch Lieb when the older man didn’t respond.

“You can’t always protect me, Lieb,” Web murmured, his fingers reaching out to rub gently on Lieb’s shoulder.

Lieb took a deep breath, and fasten the bandage securely and he looked up to watch Web.

“You don’t have to protect me back at the mountain, but you did it anyway,” Lieb whispered, moving so he would sit on the bed next to Web instead of the chair.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Web murmured, his fingers tracing Lieb’s hand. “I know you were and probably are still angry about what happened to your people. But, Lieb murdering him won’t cure the pain inside you,” Web whispered low, placing his palm on Lieb’s chest, feeling his heart beating steadily.

Lieb placed his palm on top of Web’s palm, his eyes drinking in the sight of Web’s face, so open and trusting that it made his heart ache.

“When I heard that you got hurt at the lake, I was angry and upset. The war is almost over, Web and yet you still manage to get yourself hurt,” Lieb said softly, fumbling his hand inside his OD pocket to take out a cigarette but didn’t light it up.

“It will heal soon since I have a good nurse taking care of me,” Web replied teasingly, tilting his head to look at Lieb and he was grinning, his dark thought already vanished from his mind.

“You’re so full of shit,” Lieb replied fondly and started to get up from his spot but Web held his hand firmly.

“Stay.”

It was a simple request and Web’s eyes were blue and clear and Lieb couldn’t say no to it. He moved to the other side of the bed, unbuttoning his shirt and pants; folding them neatly and draping them on the chair. Web watched Lieb’s every movements; wearing only his skivvy and white undershirt. Web’s heart beating faster than usual because he didn’t think that Lieb would agree to stay.

Lieb helped Web to lie down on the bed properly, and making sure his foot was elevated before he turned off the light and climbed into the big bed; their arms and shoulders brushed against each other. Web’s solid presence radiated warmness that reminded Lieb of the comfort of home.

“Web?”

“Hmm?”

“After this is over, are you going back to Harvard?” Lieb asked, his eyes adjusting the semi-darkness of the room. He could hear the soft murmurs of the men outside, probably playing cards and drinking wine.

“Probably. I’ll finish my study so you can call me a legit Harvard man,” Web replied and Lieb grinned, shifting his leg, brushing it gently with Web’s uninjured leg.

“How about you? Still gonna stick with the original plan of finding a nice Jewish girl and have lots of little Liebgotts?” Web asked and even though Lieb couldn’t see his face, he knew that Web was a bit displeased with the idea.

“Nah, change of plan,” Lieb said, shifting his body so he could get closer to Web. 

"Maybe I’ll drive my cab for a while until I got enough money to rent a space for my haircut business and maybe, you know, wait for this one college boy to graduate from Harvard and ask him if he wants to come to Frisco for a while because the ocean there is magnificent and I know he loves the ocean,” Lieb whispered, throwing his arm over Web’s broad chest, hugging Web closer.

“Maybe that college boy will want to visit you during spring break too while he’s struggling to finish his study,” Web said, bumping his cheek to Lieb’s.

“Maybe he will come and bore me with his useless trivia about things that he had learned in classroom while I drive him around in my cab,” Lieb murmured, nuzzling Web’s jaw and lightly kissing it.

“Maybe that college boy will send you letters too in between his classes, telling you that he misses you in a roundabout way even though he knows you will not going to reply,” Web tilted his neck to give access for Lieb to kiss the tender flesh there.

“Maybe I will reply to you, and tell you that I miss you too and tell you to get your ass to Frisco as soon as possible so I can show you how much I miss you,” Lieb said, hovering over Web before leaning down to kiss him on the lips gently.

Web kissed back with tenderness that Lieb’s spine turned into liquid with every press of the lips and every lick of the tongues.

When they parted, they were breathing hard; sighed deeply, Web kissed Lieb again softly before asking, ‘Are you really gonna wait for me?’

“Yeah,” Lieb answered simply not trusting himself to open up more what was inside his mind regarding about his relationship with Web.

Maybe later, when they were back in the States, Lieb would call Web in the evening; Web would probably just about done with his classes, maybe eating a late lunch. He would tell Web over the crackling phone line that Web cured the pain in him and that being with Web felt like home even when he was away from home. Maybe he would be brave enough to tell Web that he mattered to him.

But right now, in Zell am See, in this bed with Web’s sprained ankle, Lieb kissed Web one last time before he told Web to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> first posted on [webgottrash](http://webgottrash.tumblr.com/post/142455088112/web-has-a-broken-ankle-and-joe-take-care-of-him)


End file.
